The Making Of:
Cirque La Frageur
Movement For Actors And Devising For Theatre
This is our devising movement piece where we were instructed to make a horror walk through show. Come visit the circus, see the creating progress and discover the secrets of behind the scenes before checking out our final show. You're in for a treat, you're in for a fright. everyone's welcome at the circus, you have so much fun you won't be able to leave... even if you wanted to...
My First Thoughts
Having read through the brief I must say that I am quite sceptical on my acting skills for this unit based off my previous roles that i have played. I have only ever played comic relief characters or very charismatic characters up to this point so I don't know how well I will be able to complete the criteria in this unit. I am perfectly contempt with the movement side of things as well as devising a show as they are things I have previously experienced and performed well in past shows. I have played serious characters before in previous shows however I've never played a scary or intimidating character. Even when in roles i was trying to be angry the other characters in the play didn't take my character seriously so it was often played for laughs. However this will be the first time be threatening and scary in front of an audience and I'm not sure how capable I am going to be. Although I am eager to learn new skills and play a new role instead of always being comic relief. I believe this will be a good opportunity for me to step out of my comfort zone and expand my acting range.
Coming Up With Idea
Discussion Video
This is our initial discussion on our Halloween devised event. We were hooked on the idea of making it more of a walk-through show, similar to ‘frightmare’, rather than an on-stage show, like ‘woman in black’. Each one has different ways of scaring the audience however with the walk-through idea it would allow us to have a smaller group which is easier to scare than a larger audience. The smaller the audience then the more valuable the audience feels and therefore the easier it is to scare them. Eventually we decided upon the idea of the circus which lead us to the discussion on what to put into it.
We decided each of us would have our own segment to tell a short story and each segment be a different style of fear or scare within. We were hooked on the idea of having a scary childish figure for the corruption of innocents and someone in a mirror for more jump scare horror. We wanted a hallway segment to get into the real claustrophobic fear. And we liked the idea of having a plant in the audience for us to use to scare the audience more into thinking this was real.
I was pleased with my role as the Circus Ring Master as I hadn't had a main role in a while. Also I would be the one walking them round so i was onboard with that idea so that i wouldn't actually have to scare them.
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Yoga And Discussion On Our Skills
In this video we started with some yoga. Yoga is an excellent way to warm up and stretch your muscles in order to not harm yourself during a rehearsal or a show. It's also a good way to increase your flexibility over time if you do it constantly over time. As an actor Yoga helps you relax both your muscles and your mind before a performance, helping an actor be properly prepared and in the moment during a rehearsal or show. This is something Stanivlaski taught as one of his pillars of acting to help them in the moment.Â
After which we had a brief discussion on our strengths and weaknesses in movement as an actor and what we thought they were and how they affect our roles.
My Strengths And Weaknesses For Movement As An Actor
Strengths​
Stamina is the ability to sustain long amounts of physical activity. It is important to an actor as on stage you will be required to be able to perform multiple shows in one day. In the rehearsals you will be required to repeat the same scene or movement repetitively in order to learn the blocking. On a film set you will be required as an actor to repeat the same scene over again exactly the same way and movements for different camera shots and for various takes. So stamina is very important to an actor in order to not require as many breaks and therefore not waste valuable time. I am not the healthiest person however I can do lots of physical activity with minimal breaks and my determination alone will push myself to go for longer even if in physical discomfort.
Flexibility is the ability to bend your physical appearance into various positions without seriously harming oneself. As an actor you may be required to be placed in unnatural positions, especially if doing a horror or alien show or movie where they may require a certain physicality to the role the director wants. Also, being able to move if different ways can help solidify the characterisation of a roll so having the flexibility to be able to be put into unnatural positions can help you as a performer to get a roll if it is required. I am reasonably flexible physically and can stay in an uncomfortable position until I get pins and needles if necessary. I am willing to do uncomfortable positions or movements for roles.
Characterisation is the process from turning a role into a seemingly real person. It is the process of going from an actor portending to be a character to becoming the person entirely. The more the actor becomes the character they’re playing then the more the audience believes whatever is being performed to them, regardless of how insane or unrealistic the scenario is. Characterisation is the most important aspect of an actors career as no matter how diverse your acting range is if you cannot personalise your character they’ll aways feel like a model reading through lines. I am great at coming up with backstories for characters as I love writing stories and its easy for me to incorporate or twist aspects of my own life to create characterisation and use relationships I have in real life and use that towards other characters in the performance.
Getting into character is a switch in the mind of an actor that switches them from being themselves into being someone else. Good actors will be able to do this in an instant as they go on stage or as the cameras start rolling. It's crucial for an actor to be able to get into character quickly as to not waste time or make a mockery of themselves. Breaking character is a disastrous thing but something all actors face when hit with nervousness or something off script. I believe that the best way to truly get into character is with costume; once you look like the role, you’re playing you can truly start feeling the character and I find it much easier to get into character that way. However I can get into character quite well and I believe it is one of my strengths although I would like to work on doing it better.
Improvisation is the act of coming up with something unscripted in the second. First used by commedia dell’arte performers on the streets of Italy in the 16th century, improve can be used to create entire theatre pieces although most days it’s used to cover up mistakes on stage or on camera. Improvisation is important for ever actor to be able to stay in character and create new material. I am quite good at improvisation as I use my characterisation to stay in character, and when in character act how they would in that scenario.
Confidence in your own skills as a performer is very crucial as it’s the confidence that leads to a more realistic portrayal and excellent performance. If an actor isn’t confident in themselves, regardless of how incredible their skill may be, the performance is going to hinder. It’s better as an actor to be confident in something you’re not good at than be unconfident at something you’re skilled in. My confidence fluctuates depending on who I'm with; I am most comfortable around people I'm familiar with however I'm most confident knowing the people I'm performing too will never see me again. Working with new people is something I need to get better at however I would say that I'm most confident when in character and would classify it as a strength.
Weaknesses
Physical contact allows actors to break through the personal space barrier of another actor to be able to communicate towards an audience the chemistry or relationship between two characters. Physicality can communicate: tenderness, sympathy, urgency, intimacy or even aggression. And distance between character can also communicate how characters interact. Proximity is one of the most obvious ways of showing a relationship via physical space on stage. I suffer with mild chirophobia and therefore physical contact is one of my greatest weaknesses; especially when it comes to intimacy. I feel very uncomfortable touching other actors however it is a skill I will have to learn in order to create more believable characterisation on stage.
Core strength is important as an actor depending on the role you receive. You may have to lift someone or carry something or our costume may require you to have something heavy on. You may have to hold onto a ledge for a movie or pull someone up for a scene and therefore you’ll need a lot of physical strength to do so. Physical strength is dependent on the genre of acting you get into and the role you get however it’s crucial for an actor. However it is something I want to work on as I love seeing and doing lifts and stunts so if I get into that line of work, it’s something I'll have to do.
Balance is important to a performer because you may be required to be balance on an unstable surface for a long period of time. If you're doing a dance or physical theatre piece you may be required to catch or lift someone and adjusting your core strength to regain your balance is crucial as it’s not just you that will fall if you lose your balance.
The Creation Of Our Set
Our set stuck mostly to the original plan that Jess drew up at the very start. We knew the basic ideas we wanted and having it drawn out confirmed that it was what we wanted. However. Our set needed to be put away after ever rehearsal and we would forget the exact locations of everything every time we set up creating a slightly different set each time. One time I put down markers on the floor with tape so we could line them up to know where everything went but then the cleaners removed them. Although most stayed the same there were of course changes that went through as we discovered what would and wouldn’t work: mostly for the tunnel section. Â
There were so many things we wanted to do with the tunnel: cobwebs, hands, people in tunnel, people under stage, things touching them from above, people creeping over walls, spinning lights, balloons, fake and tight to squeeze through doors. There was just too much and we couldn’t have it all. So we built a tunnel and discovered what would work and what wouldn’t for our show. The tight door could be made however it used a lot of the fabric that we needed elsewhere in the show and we would have to find a way to undo it for wheelchair access and then fix it again for the next show. It was just too much hassle to do so we ended up scrapping the idea. The under the floor scare would’ve worked a treat, however we would need to use staging to raise the floor to get someone under there. For wheel chair access we needed ramps that would have to be used and they took up so much room that the corridor would have to be three times smaller than what we planned it to be. Also we later discovered that we didn’t have any ramps for the other side. So the idea couldn’t be used. Riley being the tall man, we had the thought of him creeping over the walls, however we decided to instead move that fright to after the tunnel to have the scares spread out. Â
A few of the exhibits were rearranged, mostly Johnathan's mirror being changed from a mirror to a tank of water and moved from the second to last attraction to the second one due to spacing. We had a lot of extra space in one area so moved his area so that it didn’t look or feel so crowded. Â
Riley and Matt had the same cage design using staging and hidden by the curtain with the only difference being Riley’s has a cloth covering the bars and he’s standing on boxes to make him extra tall. Connor’s cage was created out of the scaffolding and worked well as the final exhibit as the largest cage. We had fun putting it together and climbing up it to store our stuff away.
The Ring Master
Luther Frageur
Allow Me To Introduce Myself
Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Luther and welcome to my show. I am the ringleader of my circus ‘Cirque La frageur’ which I French for circus fright. My wife named it, may she rest in pieces. I am a saviour not a torture. I use my gift to save those closest to death and provide them with a chance to change their lives for the better. To survive under my command and live out their days bringing entertainment and terror to those who dare to adventure. Of course my establishment is not strictly legal but I assure you that nothing bad ever happens... if you don’t break the rules. At least most of the time the audience survives. Come and visit me and my show if you dare. There’s always room for more at the circus.
Creating My Character
Personality
I have had experience being a host of a talk show in a previous performance ‘Have I Got A Tale For You’ and I played the role of Corny Colins in our musical production ‘Hairspray’ so I have a lot of experience being the main host of a show. My favourite musical ever made is ‘The Greatest Showman’ and I was inspired by Hugh Jackman's’ performance as ‘P.T Barnum’ which was what inspired me to be the main role of this performance.
For this role I was inspired by the performances of ‘the shadow man’ from Disney's princess and the frog also know as ‘Dr Facilier’. I also tried to add in a little bit of Heath Ledger’s performance as ‘the joker’ from ‘The Dark Night’. This sort of crazy sinister personality of ‘the joker’ mixed with the stature and manipulation nature of ‘Dr Facilier’ gives my interpretation of the ring master a chaotic explosive personality. Able to be calm and disturbing with a quick temper and sinister laugh. I called my character Luther as a reference to the devil’s name Lucifer as I hint that I saved all the people in the circus with a deal. Like a deal with the devil in order to keep them alive and spear them from death, however curses and deforms them. This type of misleading deal is exactly what ‘Dr Facilier’ does and fits with the interpretation I was aiming for.
Design
Having watched 'the greatest showman' Hugh Jackman's 'P.T Barnum' was shown off with a cane and I thought it would be a good idea to have one for my character. I believed it would be intimidating as I could use it to guide audience members or threaten them with. Or I could hit it on the ground for a jump scare.
I found a stick that i used as a prop cane during some improve lines and decided that I would turn it into my cane. I bought a polystyrene ball (I was hoping for a skull but none was available) and hot gun glued it onto the stick. I pushed the ball against the stick until i had a hole which i could glue it together. Then i used my acrylic paints to paint it. I decided to not go too fancy with it so that it could have a traditional look to go with the time the circus would've originally been introduced.
Of course my costume was going to be simple, it'll be a ring master's costume, however i wanted an extra scare factor to my appearance. Something that would intimidate audience go with with my performance. I really like the facial horror of 'Two Face' from 'The Dark Knight' and i had dressed up as him for a Halloween event. However considering the environment I decided to go with a clawed design across my face. My idea was that i lost my eye to Connor's character 'the beast'. i was obsessed with the look of a blinded eye so i got a pair of white out contact lenses. I discovered that they are very difficult to put in however it really completed the look of Luther.
Movement
I imagined Luther as this proud elegant yet sinister character and i wanted his movement to reflect that. I wanted him to have good upright posture to show his authority and be constantly looking down on everyone even if they were taller than him. Then i added unnaturalism into it which had him constantly turning about or leaning over to get in the audience's face. I liked the idea of when he turns his neck turns first and then the body follows because if i did it slow enough audience members could hear my neck clicking which would make them feel more uneasy. I liked the idea of having this character making people uncomfortable rather than scared and being in such a close proximity to audience members would really make them feel uncomfortable. Combined with the scares and blind eye it really started to freak people out. I based my movement on slash and glide from Larbon's eight efforts. I like using the glide for his most of his movements and how he is relaxed in such a horrific environment and to show his authority inside of it and then slash was used to physicalise his quick turns in temper in disobedience by his attractions or audience. Adding to this, his quick switch in temper was inspired after learning about Lecok's seven levels of tension. I believed he was more of a 5 around people, almost normal but a bit uneasy however i liked the idea of immediately switching to a 7 to really intimidate and scare people almost like a jump scare. I do believe it lead to a more threatening and intimidating performance.
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History Of Devising
Cambridge dictionary defines devising as to invent a plan, system or object usually using your own intelligence or imagination whereas Edexcel defines it as a group collaboration in response to a stimulus leading to the creation of an original performance. Devising is a well-used theatre style which allows the creation of original material from a stimulus or borrowed idea. It’s hard to pin point the exact start of devised theatre as collaboratively devised performance is as old as theatre itself. We see prototypes of contemporary devising practice in ancient and modern mime, in circus arts and clowning. Theatre historians Kathryn Syssoyeva and Scott Proudfit have argued that the modern, European tradition of collective creation follow rapidly upon the emergence of directing as a profession. They went on to claim that devised theatre pieces have fluctuated over times due to the authenticity of theatre and the social and/ or political circumstances of the times. Elements of devising appear in the work of European directors as early as 1905, beginning with early experiments and that by the 1930’s this practice had been common. From 1950s a number of theatre practitioners had begun experimenting with collaborative methods that engaged performers to be show creators which meant that the 70s witnessed an explosion of collective creation practices and devising theatre pieces. During the mid-1980s devising models and training methods were made accessible through theatre festivals, training workshops, and college courses. A shift occurred, away from the more political stimulus and towards more creativity and awareness campaigns. This is also when they started finally referring to this style of theatre as devising. However since then the devised theatre style has seen a steady decrease in it’s popularity despite its practices still being used in modern day.
Current Society Issues Shown through Devising
Cirque La Fragure
When we were told that we needed to market and advertise our devised piece so I decided that I was going to make us a poster based on each of our characters. I was inspired by the cover art of 'The Greatest Showman CD soundtrack' where they only show the silhouettes of all the characters. I took that inspiration and made the silhouettes our all our characters in the poster design.
First, I started with the ring master which i got the pose from the CD art i mentioned previously. I created each character on Powerpoint using nothing but basic shapes to create the outlines.
Moving onto Riley's character next, i copied and paced the ring master and extended the size of the body. Next I changed the cloak design and hat. I took inspiration from 'Little Nightmares 2 the tall man' who's so tall he bends his neck unnaturally to fit into room so i used that for his silhouette.
Matt's masked child was easy to make as he was sat down so required less shapes. I added in his music box as it is an essential prop to his character.
Jessy's character was more complex being inside a box. I started with a rectangle and making the inside with no background while making the edges extra thick. I added three semicircles to the top to add to the decoration inspired by actual fortune telling booths. Her expression was done by some of her movements when we were doing some character work.
Johnathon's box was made the same way as Jessy's but I struggled on what pose or posture to do for him. I looked at a photo of him in costume and used that for his pose. I gave him chains by adding lines connecting his hands.
Connor's character was the hardest to do with just basic shapes. After many failed attempts I decided to draw his silhouette using just the mouse on Powerpoint instead of using shapes and it worked better in my favour.
For added tension and pop into the poster i decided that each silhouette would have a red stand out for their character. For My character it was easy to just add the scratches, for Jessy having the fortune ball just made sense and Matt's mask eye to hint to the fact that he was wearing a mask. Connor's eyes and nose just made sense to add to the sinister ferocity of his character but i struggled with Riley and Johnathon. With Riley i decided to do an eye as he's constantly keeping an eye on all the guests to see if they obey the rules. As for Johnathon i did the hair to distinguish the diffence otherwise it looks like a odd shaped head.
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To create the shadow i simply removed the red from each character and copied and paced the silhouettes in grey. Then i simply made them bigger and placed them behind the original ones. I did this instead of using an effect so that the shadows could still be viable when the poster was printed. I then sent it off to Jessy who added all the information who then did print it off.
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Creating The Script
Usually a devised piece doesn't have a script however ours eventually had one. The script was essentially written just as key notes of dialogue we needed to say however the further we went on, the more we started relying on particular dialogue and a script had to be written.
I started off when Jessy wanted her character to speak in rhymes and riddles of the future so we all started coming up with ideas on what she could say. We came up with ones that included to other parts of the attractions and wrote them down. Then we decided to write down a check list of things we wanted to say for each character and zone. The rules, the backstories and what we wanted to happen in each section.
Later when adding what we needed to do in each section, i went through everyone and decided on dialogue i would say in order to activate different parts of the scenes and audio ques. For Johnathon i told him i would start saying a particular sentence and he was to interrupt me at any time. Matt, i told him that when i talk about his jack-in-the-box for him to disappear. Riley had to say the rules twice and that was my ques to come back in after hitting Johnathon backstage.
After having gone through basic lines to act as ques, i started typing up myself a script to help me memorise what lines to say and when to help remember the ques i had to do. I was about half way through writing when i realised i should just write the entire script considering i was already half way there. So i started adding in character names, stage directions and printed off everyone a copy.
The script was never planned it just happened as i wanted a more organised way to remember my lines rather than millions of crumbled up notes. This was very helpful for all of us as the light a sound team was able to have a copy with them and read along with the script during the shows to know when particular sounds and lights should occur.
Our particular devised piece did have a script, it wasn't our starting off point it was created later on during the devising process. Of course our script was writing during a time where it was finalised meaning we did change a few things like Jessy kicking the audience out at the end and removing the spirit in the tunnel. However I do believe that a script does help once the majority of the play has been created however it's not completely necessary for every play. Feel free to read through the original script and download it if you wish to use it as a stimulus for your own devised performance.
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Cirque La Fragure
Full Script
Characters:
Luther – The ringleader who take pride in the freaks that he’s captured, a devil in disguise
Esmeralda – The fortune teller who defiles orders to fulfil her purpose to tell peoples future
Frank – The escape artist who’s arrogance perinatally trapped him in a cage he can’t escape
Stilt – The caretaker who hates guests as they defile his rule and mess up his circus
Jack – A little boy who’s determined to find his mother
The Beast – A half man half monster hybrid that craves the flesh of humans
Spirit – A mysterious figure, not part of the show, who hates people but loves balloons
*audience enters*
Luther: *off stage*
Come in, come in; we shouldn’t linger in doorways.
*appears*
Welcome to Cirque la fageur, I am your ringleader Luther. This place was tragically shut down in 1921 due to an accident that was totally not related to me. But as you can see we’re back in action. Have any of you ever been to a circus before? Well I assure you, you’ve never been to one like this. Now before we continue I must go over the rules of my establishment. I have strict regulations here and if you desire to make it out of here alive, then I suggest you follow them.
*starts circling around audience*
Rule number 1: according to the government this place dose not exist and I shall go to any length necessary to keep it that way. So no gossiping or rumours about my show when you leave and definitely no recordings. Otherwise you may be on the front page of tomorrows news.
*turns and circus other way*
Rule number 2: you will go where I tell you to go and stay when I tell you to stay. Stay in the middle of the path and definitely no wondering off. Failure to do so may result in your death or worse you’ll end up joining the circus.
*turns and circus other way*
And the final rule: which is the most important, do not touch the bars. My exhibits do not like it when you do that. And no feeding the attractions either; for they won’t be interested in the snack in your hand but more your hand.
*in front of audience*
And of course have fun. Follow these rules and you may just end up making it out of here in one piece. Now, if you will follow me, come join me at the circus.
*leads audience through doorway into the next room*
Esmeralda: *appears from her fortune boot*
Do beware which way your turn for one of you shall not return.
Luther: *stops the audience from proceeding forward*
Esmeralda; no matter how many times I chain you to be the last attraction, you always manage to claw yourself up to be the first. 
Esmeralda: I’m sorry ringmaster by my sight is much vaster. Apologies for interrupting your show but let me show you the future before you go.  
Do not underestimate your powers here, otherwise you’ll drown in fear. 
Obey the rules, stick to the path, beware the walls and the hand that grasps. 
Everybody has a mask, finding his parent is the task. 
Disobedience shall be your flaw, keep an eye on the open door. 
Luther: You are not the only one cursed with magic, so stay quiet or your fate will be tragic. 
Esmeralda: The beast… 
Luther: Now before she spoils any more, follow me through this door. 
*open door to allow audience through*
Ah yes, here we are at our official first attraction, Frank Ocean. Our escapologist, second only to Houdini. He was one of the circus’ best attractions, back in our prime, able to escape any cage or prison. I was going to make him the most famous escapee in the world but unfortunately, he last trick really was his last.
*Frank appears in tank, yelling and screaming*
He attempted to escape this lock box of water, however it mysteriously sealed. Now he lives out his days in this same box that he swore he could escape from, and he’s still attempting to escape.
Frank: You look juicy, may I have a taste! (or) Help me! I’ll get out of here! I will get out of here! I must escape. I must. I will.
*sticks hand out through glass to grab audience member*
Luther: Quick, quick get in here. Everyone in here now.
*rushes audience into the next room*
You stay here where its safe, I need to teach this attraction a lesson in obedience.
*Leaves audience in room alone*
*off stage hitting*
What have I told you about escaping! Stay. In. your. Cage.
Frank: *off stage screaming*
I’m sorry.
Stilt: *distance slow creaking footsteps*
*appears, waking his cane on bars*
Do not touch the bars. Do not wonder off. Do not touch the bulbs, that’s how you end up here.
*smacks cane on bars*
Do not touch the bars. Do not wonder off.
Luther: *appears, wiping blood off hands*
Sorry about that. Now where were we? Ah yes, don’t mind our caretaker here, he’s been here longer than I have. He’s outlived generations of ringmasters and he’s very strict on the rules.
Stilt: Do not touch the bars. Do not wonder off.
*exits slowly* *appears suddenly, smacking cane on bars* *exits*
Luther: You see, if you break them it’s not me you’ll have to deal with, it’s him. Run along now stilt, there’s much to attend to. As you can see this cage is currently empty however break our rules and you may find yourself calling this your new home. Let’s continue shall we.
*leads them through tunnel*
Stay away from the edges in here or they’ll never let go.
*hands pop out from walls* *Luther laughing* *suddenly stops audience*
Everybody freeze. Okay. He’s not supposed to be here. Okay, if we stay quiet, he may allow us to walk past him. Just walk very slowly and stay very quiet and we should be fine. And whatever you do, do not make eye contact.
*slowly starts leading audience through the tunnel past the figure*
Spirit: *slowly turns around holding balloon in hand* *starts squeezing balloon as walk past*
Luther: Ah yes, our most recent attraction, the masked child. This poor soul was an audience member at our last show 100 years ago. let’s see if he’s going to come out and play. Jack, come on out. Don’t be shy. Look, I’ve got some new friends for you.
Jack: *sat down in cage, music starts playing, slowly turns to face the audience*
Where’s my mummy? Are you my mummy?
*sticks hand out through bars*
Luther: *sticks out cane to push audience away from bars*
Don’t let this one touch you, especially this one. Unless you want a mask permanently attached to your face. His mother died in the same show he did, I managed to save his soul but his mother… still he searches for his mummy but doesn’t realise that she is dead.
Jack: *silently exits*
Luther: Now, it’s important that his music box keeps on playing because if it stops…
*music stops*
Jack? Jack get out of here this instant!
Jack: *appears behind audience*
Come and play with me mummy. Mummy. Mummy.
Luther: Away, all of you away. down there. Wait for me there.
Stilt: *appears behind clear wall*
Do not wonder off!
*explosion*
*audience exits through door*
Luther: *off stage*
Jack, you have been a bad boy! Mummy is very angry with you right now. Go to your room. I said go to your room.
Luther: *appears* *slowly starts leading them through corridor*
Now what you’re about to see might well be the most dangerous thing on the entire planet. Ripped out of the heart of the amazon rainforest, known to the locals as the flesh-eating demon that would devourer anyone and anything that got too close to its cave. I give you the very beast that started this circus in the first place: the horrific, the man eating, the beast!
*laughter*
Beast: *slowly wakes up* * sees audience* *pounces at cage bars* *growling and snarling*
Luther: *laughing*
Beast: *looks up to see cage door open* *starts climbing up*
Luther: Oh no. Stilt! You forgot to close the cage door.
*starts waking beast with cane*
Down boy, down. Oh no!
Beast: *grabs cane and pulls it into cage*
Luther: Damn! Quick, everyone behind this door. Now! Now! Go. Go.
*pushes audience through door and closes it behind him* *banging at door*
It’s gone. Right, where is it? Where are you?
*checks security cameras*
There you are. Alright, I am going to teach my exhibit a few lessons in obedience. You stay here, you’ll be safe here. And whatever you do, do not open this door under any circumstance, do you understand me? Good. I’ll be back soon.
*exits through door* *closes door behind him* *on camera*
There you are. Now get back in your cage.
Beast: *looks at him and growls*
Luther: I said get back to your cage now! You shall do as I say now get back in your…
Jack: *in cage* *singing in the background*
Beast: *pounces and strikes Luther’s neck*
Luther: *holding neck* *bleeding*
No. Get away from me. No I own you.
Jack: *starts clapping joyfully*
Luther: *looks at camera*
Run! Leave! Run!
Beast: *jumps on Luther and starts killing him*
*security camera stops playing*
Luther: *off stage screaming*
Stilt: *appearing behind audience* *opening door for them*
Get out!
*audience leaves*
Stilt: *closes door behind audience*
Horror Movement Workshop
We had a previous student come in who had experienced and been involved in horror attractions like the one we were making. He kindly showed us what the audition process is like to get into one of these by organising a performance workshop.Â
I think my strengths are monster and distorted figure horror as I am very flexible and can get and stay in uncomfortable positions. Also as a child my brothers and I used to portend to be creatures so that's why I was good at it.Â
I need to work on my intimidation as it is crucial for my character and performance. I need to work on invading personal space and making them feel uncomfortable. I can do this by just practising getting up close while i speak my lines.
Cirque La Fragure
Final Showcase
Luther Fragure
Creating A Character
A personal analysis on my character and my performance during the show. My thoughts about how the show went as well as my thoughts and ideas about creating the character myself.
Viva Voce
This is our discussion after the show on how we felt and think it went. I think our show was very successful, we were able to get make over £100 and most of our audience were terrified. People screamed, hid behind friends and laughed which is a form of fear. Having the smaller groups was beneficial for covid but for intimidation and control. Easier to scare as they feel more valuable when there’s less and more of a target. More accessible more people of all ages or disabilities. More inclusive. Making the audience a part of the story, bringing them into the show making it feel more believable. Most audience members were surprised that we even attempted to have a story as the majority of horror walk throughs like ours concentrate on atmospheric and jump scare fear. We added a story as a underlayer to our performance because we wanted to attract people with mystery surrounding the show rather than typical horror topes. And instead of telling them the story we dropping small hints and little pieces of the bigger story throughout the show so they could piece the mystery behind it all themselves if they chose. Â
I was very sceptical about my role within a horror devised piece as I'd never been a scary person nor had I played a threatening role before in a show. In all my previous performances I was always comic relief characters. I’d had one serious role before but none of them were antagonists or relied on intimidation. I wasn’t confident in my skills to be able to scare people however the horror workshop we did was what really showed me that there’s more than one style of fright and fear. I tired intimidation and close proximity due to my own fear of touch to make people uncomfortable. Getting uncomfortably close to people makes anyone uncomfortable anyway but adding the threatening or unnervingly calm voice at times combined with my scared up face really scared a lot of people.
My Movement Workshop
Activity 1: back stretches
I suffer from bad back so it’s important to stretch and release tension from the back. The back is the centre piece to the entire body connecting everything through the spin. All the nerves that connect to every cell in your body travel through the spine and therefore is probably the most important to take care of. As an actor your taking care of your spine will give you better posture which will then lead to you not getting as much back pain which means you can act for longer and therefore helps improve your stamina. Also allows you to stay in unusual and discomforting positions for longer periods of time which may be required if you’re having to repeat the same movement or scene repetitively.
Twist to warm up back
twist to see behind us x4 x8
Down on the floor, arch back up (crap walk/ bridge) x3
Back correction on floor
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Activity 2: contact and confidence
Something I’ve always struggled at has been contact, surprise to no one considering throughout the entire first year of college I was constantly wearing gloves and refusing to take them off. No, I’m not a germophobe I just have mild chirophobia. Now contact is important to an actor as you never know what role you will be playing or what you might have to do in character in a scene. You may have to hug, or shake hands, or kiss, or touch someone where it’s uncomfortable for either one or both of you, in the reality of our career path we need to be comfortable in contact. And in reality, it all comes down to confidence again.
Unfamiliarity is the biggest hit against someone's confidence, trying something new or having to do something you’ve never done before is nerve wracking for a lot of people because they’ve never done it before. For me, I've never held someone had before who wasn’t a parent and therefore am uncomfortable holding hands with people. Someone who’s never kissed someone would probably feel uncomfortable having their first kiss be in front of an audience on stage. So, getting confidence is as easy as becoming comfortable in the actions we’re told to do and the people we do it with.
Solo acting first: Riley a monkey, Matt a cheesecake, Connor lawnmower, Jessy scissors, Johnathon a dog
Everyone at same time: monkey, cheesecake, lawnmower, scissors, dog
Everyone as one: monkey but all hold hands, cheesecake but all feet must touch, lawnmower but you must be touching someone’s head, scissors but one person cannot touch the ground, dog but no one’s allowed to touch
Grab someone's hand, everyone touching. Now someone's leg different to the hand you are holding.
Jessy and Riley to hold hands. Stand here. Did that quickly and comfortably. Now hopefully that wasn’t too awkward for you to do because you’re all doing the same thing and you’ve all comfortable with each other. You were all holding hands before and you’ve done it in the past so it’s familiar to you and therefore comfortable for you to do from now on. You can let go now.
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Activity 3: characterisation
Character development is the most important part of a role, otherwise you have nothing but a blank canvas portending to be a painting. Many people like to use part of their own life in a characters backstory and that is perfectly fine, as long as it’s not a copy paste of your own life. Otherwise that's not acting that’s just you being you. Now the hardest thing to do for a devised piece is creating a character from scratch but don’t worry because we’re going to do just that.
Take line from hat. Say line as pick from hat. Everyone at same time. Switch lines and do again. Go through different characters. Pick best one.
Pick the character you liked most. Walk around room.
While walking around room yell out Laban technique, give physical examples for each.
Laban technique: Direct, indirect, heavy, light, quick, sustained, bound and free.
Laban 8 efforts: wring, press, flick, dab, glide, float, punch, slash
Now take one of those movements and apply it to the character that you chose earlier.
Activity 4: becoming character
We're going to do a little hot seating to develop your character further. Context, you are about to get onto a bus. Here's some things to think about while you’re there. What's your character's name? What is their age? Where are they coming from? Where are they going? Why are they like around other people? How patient are they? Now we shall do a little hot seating and a shall ask you those same questions again.
Now we’re going to do a little devised piece of you all waiting for the bus. Two people will start off in the middle waiting for the bus. You will react. Ever minuet someone new will come in, I will say who and when. I will tell you when the bus arrives.
Johnathan and Matt in middle.
Connor after 1 min
Jessy after 1 min
Riley after 1 min
Bus 2 mins
Now for my final exercise. It is my belief that if you can fully get into character and do it properly then you should be able to say any line in your character. So we are going to do some dual logs. I have some movie scripts for you here and you’re going to get into pairs and perform them in the characters you were just then for the bus scene. You're going to have 5 minuets to learn them, come up with some choreography if you want, and then perform them to the rest of us. Try not to copy the actions or the accents of the original characters of the scenes and try to instead read them in your own character. And we should all be comfortable performing these as we’re all going to be doing the same thing just with different scripts.
My Workshop
I think my workshop went well. I incorporated all my weaknesses into my workshop in order to teach others but also to teach myself how to overcome these boundaries in performing. Everyone was super cooperative and willingly did everything in the workshop. IÂ had a lot of fun teaching the class but i think that's just the director side of me.
Lecoq movement and Devising Workshop
The seven levels of tension were created by Jacques Lecoq and was created to help actors transition into different emotion physically to help them with their characterisation. The seven levels of tension are: 1 catatonic (where the body is exhausted and can barely move), 2 relaxed (can move around just very lazy), 3 natural (how you would act normally), 4 alert (noticing something's off but not sure what, acting mostly natural with unease), 5 suspense (an impending crisis, they’re aware something’s going to happen), 6 passionate (over dramatic, over reaction) and 7 tragic (Shakespearian, very charismatic and over the top).Â
In this short piece we were provided the stimulus of watching TV but not knowing what to watch. Riley and I decided to start off as a 6 with the arguments over the remote and quickly jump to 6 and 7 when we started the physical conflict. Jessy decided to stay as a 1 and had the idea that we’d all end up as a 1 by the end of it. So we went through different ways we could go about fighting over it and Jessy grabbing the remote. It was a lot of fun to do even in the short time doing it. Â
This helped with my character Luther, the ring master, as he’s usually stays at a 4 as he’s constantly acting unnerving to the audience, not quite scary but enough to be intimidating. However he can quickly jump to a 6 when he gets angry or if the attraction try to escape. It’s the quick jump between this that causes his character to be so unsettling and unpredictable to the audience which I believe with give them a sense of constant tension throughout whenever they’re near my character.
Jessy's Movement Workshop
The first activity was to make our own game which was very cool idea as it's an exercise that works on your devising skills by giving you an idea and stimulus to work with. Helping you with your creativity in coming up with something using the objects is a very creative idea and helps actors tremendously.
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The contact exercises really helped me with my Chirophobia and knowing everyone who I was in contact with made things easier for me. I'm still unsure how I would feel had it been strangers however that fact that I'm getting more comfortable with contact is more than enough for now.
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The diaphragm workshop was i think most helpful, the shopping bag technique was most helpful and I could really open up my diaphragm. I have never been able to do it despite two years of drama and singing at secondary school yet these simple techniques helped me more than those teachers did. I will be using this in future for singing and voice acting.
Jessy's Movement Workshop part 2
With the scripts we were each given a different part of the story and told to perform it in the style of a practitioner. This was helpful for me as I often forget which practitioner dose which style of acting so being able too see each one and the practitioner they used helps me to better understand and memorise the different devising techniques. Also having no script was helpful for devising as there wasn't any speech directions so you could interpenetrate the dialogue in any way you'd like to create a different re-telling of the story.
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The snowball technique is most commonly used by theatre complicite' however we adopted the game from the book "devising games for devising" by Jessica Swale. This was an excellent game and we were able to combine our mini performances into a larger concept in the span of about an hour. There was a clear story been made and with more time we could've dived into the connections between each character if we were making a full showcase.
Larban Workshop
We used Larban's eight efforts to work on character movement to explore different and unique ways of moving around the space. He believed that character comes first and the story can come after via character interaction. I'd never heard of these styles before however these were some interesting movement stimulus and helped with various movements.
Riley's Movement Workshop
In this workshop we played the park bench game where two actors in character need to sit on the bench and the objective is to get the other person to leave without forcing them off. This game requires quick thinking and improvisation skills to come up with ways in your character to kick them off the bench. The first one i did I was being a character from a play i did in secondary school who was worried about muggers in the park. I used my paranoia and crazy drinks to scare people Johnathan off the bench. Next we did the same but with existing characters, i went with the joker because it's something i know how to play and i thought it would help me with my horror show. It was interesting interacting with Connor and how two villains interact that never would.
park bench improvisation game.
After this we played the dog and bone game which helps you with reaction time and therefore quick thinking. However we were given twist that we had to act a certain way to get the toy in the middle. This was a really creative way of playing the game and encouraged different movement styles to walk i the way the character does and improvisation skill to get into character quickly to be the first to get the toy. And changing the toy to be different objectives was very clever and gives our characters a purpose which is what Stanislavski teaches in his seven pillars of acting.
Why Did The Actor Cross The Road
This movement exercise involves us crossing a busy as pre-selected characters. The fact that we aren't deciding which characters to be helps us improve us quick thinking and improvisation skills. Considering we aren't actually crossing a road and there's no cars we need to use our imagination to act as if it was a busy street. This use of realism is something taught by Stanislavsky.
Frantic Assembly Workshop
We did a movement workshop that Frantic Assembly use as a stimulus to create their own devised theatre.
Frantic Assembly: mirrors and guides
This activity requires one person to be the lead and make actions and for the other to follow and copy the other person as best as they can and as in sync as possible. Now trying to mirror Matt was fun but a challenge as he was very difficult to try to predict. He liked the big and drastic movements which was fun to do but really hard to keep in time with. I do see how you could create a performance from this technique as we were coming up with a little story ourselves. We pictured someone was being impersonated or a clone had suddenly been created of them and they were acting confused and a little cautious. You could expand this idea to create a full piece if we wanted to. I
Next we tried the hand guide where you place one hand on top of the other persons and top hand guides the bottom hand while bottom hand has their eyes closed. I took a little while before we started closing our eyes but i trusted Matt to not walk me into a wall. We did end up getting tangled a few times and we don't know how but always managed to get out of it. And you could really start making a piece out of this as a guide line as two friends who are always getting into tight situations but always managing to get themselves out of them together.
Frantic Assembly: Flying
We attempted some Frantic Assembly lifts. They use this to help devise their pieces to interoperate the movement and create a piece around it or how they could incorporate the lift into a show. We attempted to do lifts however I couldn't hold anyone up for long due to my weak wrists. I think we all needed greater shoulder and or arm strength in order to be able to hold people up for as long as they did as Frantic Assembly members were a lot stronger.
After we tried the jet pack lifts which is one of my favourites even if it is one of the hardest. However we again could maintain it for very long. I think something we're going to need to work on is greater physical strength in more workshops in future.
Frantic Assembly: Wall Walking
We attempted Frantic Assembly's walking on walls technique. We started off strengthening ourselves by standing on the wall by ourselves and holding ourselves up using just our arm. However we quickly learnt that the wall was very slippery as our feet kept slipping down the wall. We struggled to lift people onto the wall as we could tighten our core strength to hold ourselves up in the air and couldn't push them closer to the wall because of how slippery the wall was. Another reason I couldn't hold people up for long was because of my weak wrist. However i have and exercise that helps me with my wrists to strengthen them which i have to do on a daily basis. It requires and elastic band and for you to tighten and release the elastic band around your fingers in different positions to strengthen my wrists. Hopefully that will help me with lifting in the future.
Frantic Assembly: chair duets
Chair duets focus on the movement side of devising and the contact and commitment of the actors. This exercise is great starting point for physical theatre and dance as it allows for interesting and creative movements when you are limited to using just a couple of chairs. It was also benificial for me personally as the amount of physical contact IÂ had to do allowed me to become more confident in contact with others.Â
Riley and I found it easy to come up with moves as we had done this activity before last year to help devise our Greif physical theatre piece. However we did alot of mirroring and repition which was what Frantic Assembly advise against doing so on our second attempt we made small changes to remove these repitition and add in different movements from each other.
Chair Duets Final Results
Grid Workshop
The Grid workshop is used by Frantic Assembly in devising. Everyone must walk in straight lines like a robot, however it switches up and have one person not on the grid which tells a story. You can use this to create different starts: society and how everyone wants to act the same by one person tries breaking the societal norm, a child lost in a crowd, someone being trapped in their own mind with their thoughts. Frantic Assembly used this to create a piece to teach people about autism.
Tanya's Movement Workshop
We did a workshop from a previous HNC student who had done these workshops before. She started with yoga which is important as an actor as it warms up the muscles so that there's no tension when performing to prevent serious harm. It also helps with flexibility and relaxation. It was beneficial for me to help with my spine as I suffer with spin problems.Â
After that we did Lequoc's 7 levels of tension which we've done before however we did it in scenes. So our group was on a bus and had to be different stages of tension. My character was a 7 so was very angry and short tempered. After that we were told to do the same thing again but have everyone as a 7 which elevated the scene and made it much more dramatic than it had been before. I found it interesting that changing the characters tension a little can not just create a brand new character but create a very different scene entirely.
James Bond Shoot
This workshop helps us with both improvisation as were had from when we starting walking to when we start looking at the camera to do something on the spot. I got us with quick thinking. Also looking and playing with the camera works with confidence on camera and with something like James Bond it works with getting into a character. We all were able to make our own interpretations of the character and we all gave them different moods and personalities. This exercise is a great warm up to establishing a character to then develop later.
My Improvement As An Actor In Movement And Divising
So my main weakness as an actor was my chirophobia which was my mild fear of hands and therefore hand contact. I was fine touching someone on the shoulder or head or legs or feet I just could do hand contact. However through Jessy’s and my own movement workshops and by surrounding myself with people I feel comfortable with I have been able to get over this little unorthodox fear of mine. Despite the progress I have been able to achieve I still do want to get better at this as I am uncertain whether I can do physical hand contact just with the people I know or if I can do it with an actor I may be required to do it with. The only way I can conquer this is through more physical contact exercises and to slowly push myself out of this comfort zone until I am perfectly fine with doing it. That is the eventual end goal to achieve. Â
Another one of my main weaknesses was my physical strength. I have struggled with weak wrist for many years now which have impacted my strength due to how much restrain I am able to put on them. I feel like doing the lifts did build up some of my physical strengths however this is the weakness I'll probably need to work on the most in future as actors can be required to do a wide range of physical activities and I would hate for me to push myself like I do and cause serious harm to my wrists which forces me to give up or restrict a role. There’s one daily exercise that I do which requires an elastic band and strengths my wrists daily although I have been recommended to do pull ups which I've been told will also better strengthen my wrists which I will also do in future. Â
I am proud about how much stamina I have, even if it’s less physical strength and more mental determination. The amount of physical workshops we did to test strength and stamina really improved my physical capabilities on stamina and combined with my at times harmful determination to keep going I believe that stamina could be one of my biggest strengths. Â
Something I need to work on in the near future is definitely diaphragm talking. I’ve never been able to talk from my diagram, I had two years of drama and singing as well as vocal warm up that tried to teach me how to talk from the diaphragm but I never could however Jessy’s workshop really helped me out with the simple shopping bags technique. Although the technique was useful, I need to practice it more until it becomes a regular thing to do so that when I move onto voice acting and even worse singing so I can project louder and sustain my vocal cords for longer. Otherwise I'm going to end up with a really swore throat at the end of everyday.